Author: DW

At least 16 people died in a fire at a shopping mall in southern China, state media reported on Wednesday. The incident occurred at a shopping complex in Zigong, a city in western Sichuan province. Another 75 people were rescued from the blaze, according to official news agency Xinhua. “By 8:20 pm (1220 GMT), the fire had been extinguished,” state broadcaster CCTV said. It was not immediately known what caused the fire or how many people were in the building when the fire broke out. What do we know about the fire? The blaze broke out at the bottom of a 14-story building and…

Senator JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, will make his national political debut on Wednesday with a primetime speech at the Republican National Convention. It will be the first time many Americans hear from the freshman senator from Ohio. The 39-year-old was formally selected as the party’s nominee for vice president after Trump announced on his social media platform that he had chosen him as a running mate. Speaking to donors in Milwaukee before his convention speech, he quipped that he’s told Trump he’s “very excited about this evening” and doesn’t plan to screw it up but that it’s too late…

US President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House announced Wednesday. Biden, who has been campaigning in Nevada, was due to deliver the keynote address at Unidos, a Latino civil rights organization’s annual conference. “He is vaccinated and boosted and experiencing mild symptoms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. She added that he would continue his presidential duties from his home in Delaware.  As he boarded Air Force One on his way home, he flashed a thumbs-up to reporters and said, “I feel good.” He was not wearing a mask. His doctor, Kevin O’Connor, said Biden was prescribed the…

China has halted nuclear arms control talks with the United States over Washington’s support for Taiwan, Beijing said on Wednesday. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that repeated US arms sales to Taiwan in recent months had “seriously compromised the political atmosphere for continuing the arms-control consultations.” Taiwan is ruled by its own democratically-elected government, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory. “Consequently, the Chinese side has decided to hold off discussion with the US on a new round of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation. The responsibility fully lies with the US,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. What…

A device found with the man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump was a remote fireworks detonator, according to US law enforcement sources.The grey 12-button handset was found next to Thomas Crooks’ phone after Secret Service shot him dead when he opened fire on the former president. It’s believed it could be linked to what the FBI called a “rudimentary” explosive device found in his car.Authorities think it was probably intended as a distraction or to injure law enforcement rather than to cause a significant explosion.Trump v Biden latestCrooks, 20, grazed Trump’s ear with one of his shots as the…

Hundreds of thousands of football fans traveled to Germany for the Euro 2024 football championship. Ahead of and during the tournament, random checks were carried out at the borders to ensure security. Germany is now once again debating whether it would make sense to extend these temporary controls at borders with other EU countries. EU law generally prohibits identity checks within the Schengen Area, permitting temporary controls only in very restricted circumstances. The Schengen Area includes all EU member states except Ireland and Cyprus, as well as the non-EU countries Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland. The Schengen Treaty was named after a village…

Ursula von der Leyen won only half the battle when  EU leaders endorsed her for a second term as president of the European Commission in June. Now, she still needs to win over a majority of the European Parliament’s 720 lawmakers on Thursday. She is pitching herself as an experienced leader and could benefit from a desire in the European Union for a steady hand at a time when war rages in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s possible return to the White House in November elections could shake up global relations. EU’s von der Leyen vows to ‘build bastion’ against extreme left and right To view this…

US presidential candidate Donald Trump has cast doubts on the United States’ military commitment to Taiwan, saying Wednesday that Taipei “should pay us for protection” against China. In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Trump said he knows the people of Taiwan “very well” and “respect[s] them greatly,” but said that “they did take about 100 percent of our chip business” and therefore “should pay us for defense.” He said that in the context of the increasing tensions in the region, the US is “no different than an insurance company” for Taiwan, which “doesn’t give us anything.” Trump was responding to a question about whether the…

Rare footage of an uncontacted tribe shows its members face “humanitarian disaster” as loggers encroach on their territory, a British human rights group has warned.According to local campaigners, the Mashco Piro indigenous tribe have been sighted coming out of the rainforest in their remote part of the Peruvian Amazon in recent weeks in search of food. Survival International said the images highlighted the need to “throw out” loggers set to begin work in the tribe’s territory, a few miles from where these pictures were taken by the Las Piedras river.Several logging companies hold timber concessions inside the territory, while more…

Italy, Greece and several Balkan countries continue to struggle under a prolonged heat wave that has sparked wildfires and has led to a lake drying up in Serbia for the first time. With temperatures in Athens predicted to hit 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, the Greek Ministry of Culture ordered the closure of one of the country’s most famous landmarks, the Acropolis archeological site, from noon to 5 p.m. Authorities have warned people against extensive exposure to the sun during the hottest hours of the day and called on people to make sure they stay hydrated. The heat wave is expected to peak on Wednesday and…